You've got tech questions? I've got answers. We recently received this message from one of our readers, Linda, from Sevierville, Tennessee. Here's what she had to say.
"Apple is sending emails sayings that as of July 26, 2023, all photos on iPhones will be deleted except ones on iCloud. I paid over $1,000 for this iPhone to have storage. Can they do this?"
What Apple is going to be doing is getting rid of its My Photo Stream service. Let's dive into what exactly this means and how you can go about saving your photos before this happens.
My Photo Stream is a service provided by Apple that allows users to keep their most recent 1,000 photos stored in iCloud for free for 30 days. You can then view these photos on any of your Apple devices that are signed in with the same Apple ID. The purpose of this service was to allow Apple users to look at photos taken on an Apple device (iPhone or iPad) and download them locally without having to take up extra storage on their iCloud.
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Checking if you have the My Photo Stream service enabled on your iPhone is important, so you will know how to proceed if you are affected by the changes Apple is making with the My Photo Stream feature. If you do have iCloud Photo Library enabled, My Photo Stream isn't necessary. If you don't use iCloud Photo Library at all, you should see a My Photo Stream folder.
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Apple customers have been alerted by email that photos uploaded after June 26, 2023, will no longer be added to My Photo Stream, there will be no photos remaining in My Photo Stream, and the service will be shut down.
However, any pics that were uploaded to My Photo Stream before June 26 will remain in iCloud for 30 days from the date of upload and will be available on devices where My Photo Stream is enabled. Your photos in My Photo Stream are already stored on at least one of your devices, so as long as you have the device with your originals, you won’t lose any photos as part of this process.
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No, thankfully, the photos that are in My Photo Stream will not be gone forever once the feature is taken away. All this means is that you will only be able to access those photos on the device you took them on rather than across all your Apple devices. So, for example, if you have pictures that you took on your iPhone that are in your My Photo Stream, you will only be able to view those photos on your iPhone and not on your iPad or any other Apple device you own.
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Yes, if you still want to be able to access those photos across all your devices with your Apple ID, you will have to set up and switch to iCloud Photos before the July 26, 2023 deadline to avoid losing any of your photos.
iCloud Photos provides all the same services that My Photo Stream does, with some extra perks. One perk is that iCloud Photos allows you to use more image file formats, save videos and keep images forever on the cloud. It also will save and sync all your photos across all your devices, unlike My Photo Stream, which will only save and sync your most recent 1,000 photos from the last 30 days.
The one downside is that iCloud Photos will take up your storage space which is something that My Photo Stream didn't do. However, there are a few different storage plans with iCloud Photos, so you can choose the one that best suits you.
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iCloud Photos is a service that allows you to take photos and store them in your iCloud, which will allow you to access your photos from any Apple device you own with your Apple ID. The one thing to note about iCloud Photos is that the more photos you put on it, the more storage space it takes up. So, if you plan on uploading many photos here, you may want to consider paying for a storage plan that can accommodate your needs. Plans that Apple offers are as follows:
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If you do not wish to use iCloud Photos once you decide to leave My Photo Stream behind, you have two other options. The first option is to select the photos you want to keep in your My Photo Stream and download them to your device. The second option is to manually transfer your images to another location, whether it be your computer, a hard drive or some other device. Here's how to do both.
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If you have My Photo Stream on a Mac, here's how to save your photos from there.
If you would rather just transfer your photos between devices once you leave My Photo Stream, you will need the proper cable to connect your iPhone, iPad or Mac to whatever other device or storage system you're using. For example, if you want to transfer photos from your iPhone to your Mac, you can use the wire that you use to charge your iPhone as a USB cable and plug it into your Mac that way. Once you do that, follow these steps.
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The fact that My Photo Stream is being taken away is unfortunate; however, it doesn't mean that all your photos will be suddenly deleted. All it means is that you may not be able to access your photos on as many devices unless you follow one of the options above. Be sure to either switch to iCloud Photos before the July 26, 2023 deadline. Or, you can manually download or transfer your photos to another location if you don't wish to use iCloud Photos. Do what you feel is best for you and let us know how the process goes.
Do you think it's right that Apple is suddenly taking away My Photo Stream? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
For more of my tech tips & security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.
This story has been updated to reflect a correction in family pricing available from Apple and to clarify additional photo storage options.
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